I'm giving an old laptop to one of our local temples so that novices there can begin to find their way into IT.

Deleting unwanted programmes and document files has been easy, but I've run into a problem when trying to delete old internet markers. The only instruction I've been able to find is Ctrl + H, which produces an item by item list of accessed sites. However, these can only be deleted one-by-one, which takes ages.

Is there a quicker way?

TIA

3 minutes ago, yang123 said:

Is there a quicker way?

Yes open a command prompt and type

format C: / fat32 then press enter. 😋

P.S. this will erase everything..so you might not want to do that !

If you tell us what web browser you are using then 'better' advise

can be given.

Factory Restore for Windows 7 and earlier.

Remove Everything and Re-install Windows 8.

Reset This PC for Windows 10 & 11.

Edited June 23Jun 23 by FigLeaf

ctrl H opens history in browsers.

You can easily delete all history.

This does not mean all visited websites are gone.

In the program files or users files there will still be

left overs. (sometimes even in the register, but I doubt

your temple novices will go looking there)

You can easily erase both bookmarks, history and cache in the Internet browsers' settings.

If you wish to be more certain that everything is gone: Open 'This PC' and click on C-drive; go into file 'Users'; find your own user-name; make sure you can see "hidden folders" and open the hidden folder 'App Data'; open the folder 'Local'; find the folders used by your Internet browser(s) — for example Google or Microsoft Edge — and erase them. Uninstall browser(s) and do a fresh re-installation of the one, or more, you wish to follow the PC.

The very best tway to get rid of all stored data is to low format the C-drive and do a fresh installation of the OS. However, that requires you have a drivers for the PC and can upgrade security, which might not be available any longer for an older system. You'll need to install a MS Win10 or Win11 to have a fully up-to-date secure system.

On 6/23/2026 at 12:32 PM, FigLeaf said:

Factory Restore for Windows 7 and earlier.

Remove Everything and Re-install Windows 8.

Reset This PC for Windows 10 & 11.

+1

Reset, electing not to keep any files.

One should never sell, nor donate, a PC / phone with ANY trace of their use history on it.